News from Italy
The News: Short weekly world tour
Vita gazette – From the USA to NATO and the EU, from Russia to China and the Pacific… From energy to arms and hunger… From culture to history and art… From natural disasters to new discoveries and technology… Important history recorded notes… (August 22-5 September, 2022)
Human and animal rights
Great Britain: Ethnic minorities face intense institutional racism, according to a poll by the Trade Union Congress. 2 out of 5 workers have faced institutional racism at their workplace in the past five years. More than a quarter of those surveyed were adversely affected by sarcasm, racist jokes, clichés, and comments about their appearance. 1 out of 5 workers say that racist remarks are made towards or around them and that they do not work because of their appearance. Said they were bullied or harassed on the spot. 38 percent of respondents said that workplace harassment was mostly caused by coworkers. 17 percent pointed out that they are directly “managers or persons with authority”. 1 out of 13 employees (8 percent) quit their job because of the racism they experienced, and more than 1 in 3 (35 percent) reported that their most recent racist incident made them feel less secure at work.
Global warming – Climate change – Natural disasters
USA – In the gulf area called San Francisco Bay, mass fish deaths were seen covering the beaches as a result of the excessive pollution of the sea and the decrease in the amount of oxygen in the water. (31 August)
Pakistan: The death toll due to monsoon rains rose to 1162. (31 August)
Spain: Tennis ball-sized hail. Meanwhile, a 1-year-old baby died. 29 people were injured. (31 August)
Nigeria: The bodies of 15 people were found in a river after heavy rains in Nigeria. The number of people who lost their lives due to heavy rains in the country this year has reached 115. (1 September)
England: Environmental protesters demanding the establishment of a people’s assembly to address the climate crisis, affixed themselves to the seat of Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsey Hoyle. Others from the environmental group called “Extinction Rebellion” held placards outside, saying “Let the people decide” and “People’s assembly now”. It was announced that the protesters entered the building on an official tour of the parliament. (September 2)
Kazakhstan – The forest fire in the country spread to 43 thousand hectares. 1 person died, and more than 100 houses were damaged. The fire, which broke out in the forest area in the north of the country on September 2, suddenly spread to the surrounding villages due to reasons such as the increase in air temperature to 38 degrees and strong winds. (September 4)
Health
WHO: The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that half of the medical facilities around the world do not have elements that provide basic hygiene. (30 August)
Monkeypox: It was announced that the first death related to monkeypox occurred in the US state of Texas. The country has also gone into a state of alert regarding this disease. As the virus spread to 50 states of the country, the US Department of Health and Human Services took action for vaccine studies. (30 August)
Dengue Fever: The number of people who died from fever in the Philippines rose to 400.
New mysterious Virus: It has been announced that 3 people died and 6 people were infected due to pneumonia from an unknown lung infection in Argentina. Authorities announced that the cases were tested for more than 30 viruses and bacteria, including Covid-19, but they came back negative. Experts, who said that the situation showed the presence of a new virus that was not known before, reported that the patients were quarantined, while WHO and EMA announced that they were closely monitoring the cases. Symptoms of the disease are high fever, shortness of breath and abdominal pain. (1 September)
China: The number of Covid-19 cases in the country continues to rise. Restrictions have been tightened in the city of Shenzhen, which is located in the south of the country and is seen as a technology center. A three-day ban was imposed on events in large and enclosed spaces in Baoan, the city’s most densely populated area. (1 September)
Covid-19: The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the drug regulator of the European Union (EU), announced that after the approval of vaccines developed in accordance with variants against Covid-19, vaccines compatible with the original variants will be made for those who have never been vaccinated, and those who will receive supplemental doses. (September 2)
Art – Culture – History – Tradition
The last member of an indigenous tribe living on the Brazil-Bolivia border, known as the “Pit Man”, has died. The body of the native, who is estimated to be in his 60s, was found near his hut on 23 August. (30 August)
USA – The 44th President of the USA, Barack Obama, won an Emmy Award for his voiceover of the national parks documentary on Netflix. (September 4)
Science – Technology – New Inventions
Portugal: The huge dinosaur fossil found in 2017 in the Pombal resort in the west of the country, which paleontologists have been working to uncover since then, turned out to be the largest dinosaur to have ever lived on European soil. (31 August)
Twitter: Controversial ‘editing’ feature announced it’s being tested. Accordingly, those who are not satisfied with what they have shared in the past will be able to make corrections instead of deleting and reposting. The duration of this will also include a short period of time after sharing. (1 September)
China: Hundreds of years of imperial edict found in Hebei province. The 325-year-old edict, found in a rural household, is 1.6 meters long and 0.3 meters wide and contains inscriptions in both Chinese and Manchu. It was announced that the document has important reference value for the study of the official system and society of the Qing Dynasty, and contains important information about local history and cultural studies. (September 2)
Turkey: A Roman sarcophagus was found in the Iznik district of Bursa city. The sarcophagus decorated with valuable figures was moved to the archaeological museum. (September 2)
China: Mobile game company, Net Dragon Web soft, has appointed Tang Yu, a virtual humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence, as CEO of its subsidiary Fujian Net Dragon Web soft. According to the company’s statement, Tang Yu will streamline the process flow, improve the quality of work tasks, and increase the speed of execution. (September 2)
Turkey: A Roman sarcophagus was found in the Iznik district of Bursa city. The sarcophagus decorated with valuable figures was moved to the archaeological museum. (September 2)
China: Mobile game company, Net Dragon Web soft, has appointed Tang Yu, a virtual humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence, as CEO of its subsidiary Fujian Net Dragon Web soft. According to the company’s statement, Tang Yu will streamline the process flow, improve the quality of work tasks, and increase the speed of execution. (September 2)
Samsung- Company officials announced that some user data may have been stolen in the cyber attack on US servers. (September 4)
International relations and strategies
EU – Ukraine: The European Union has agreed to start work on establishing an EU military aid mission to train the Ukrainian army. (30 August)
UN – Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the countries of the world to put into effect the treaty banning all nuclear tests. (30 August)
Sanctions – Russia: Austria objects to visa ban to Russia. Austria has announced that a wholesale visa ban on Russian citizens will lead to the breaking of last ties with Russian civil society organisations. (30 August)
EU – Russia: The European Union unilaterally suspended the visa facilitation agreement granted to Russians. (August 31) Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov commented on the EU’s announcement that it will suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, “Another ridiculous decision in a series of bullshit”. (1 September)
EU – Russia – France: Pointing out that the main purpose of the Ukraine war is to divide Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he is in favour of continuing the dialogue with Russia. Emphasizing that Turkey should not be the only country communicating with Moscow, Macron said that preparations should be made now for a negotiated peace. “A diplomat’s job is to talk to everyone, especially people we disagree with,” Macron said. Therefore, we will work in coordination with our allies.” (1 September)
Kosovo – Serbia: The agreement allowing citizens of both countries to travel with identity cards has been implemented. (1 September)
USA – China: The USA has instructed chip maker Nvidia to stop exporting the two chip types most used in artificial intelligence studies to China. (1 September)
Energy: Russian energy company Gazprom announced that it will suspend gas shipments to France, citing “not making the full payment within the specified payment period.” (August 31) Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Aleksandr Novak said that oil will be supplied to countries and companies that support the application of a ceiling price for Russian oil. (September 1) Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that his country cannot meet its natural gas needs without supply from Russia. If you look at it, you can’t exclude Russia,” he said. (September 1) The finance ministers of the G7 countries agreed to impose a ceiling price on Russian oil. Within the scope of the decision, which aims to reduce Moscow’s revenues and prevent the increase in energy prices, refineries and commercial buyers import Russian crude oil. only G It has been reported that permission will be given over the ceiling price determined by the 7 coalition. (September 2) Gazprom completely cut off gas flow to Europe. Gazprom announced that on 31 August, malfunctions were detected in a turbine in Nord Stream and it was decided to stop the natural gas delivery for an indefinite period, stating that it would not be possible to deliver natural gas without rectifying them. (September 2) In Germany, the lights of public buildings, statues, monuments and signboards were turned off as of 22:00 local time in order to reduce dependence on gas imported from Russia and save energy. (September 2) Some factories in the Netherlands announced that they stopped production due to rising electricity prices. (September 3)
Armament: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said they will give Ukraine new super modern weapons. (August 29) German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced that it is no longer possible to provide weapons aid to Ukraine from the warehouses of the German Armed Forces. (September 1), Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal appealed to Germany and the USA, demanding the supply of modern tank aid for the Ukrainian army. (September 2) USA – China – Taiwan: The USA embodied the steps that angered China. Approved $1.1 billion worth of arms sales to Taiwan. (September 2)
Poland: Announced that it would seek compensation of 6.2 trillion zloty (US$1.31 trillion) from Germany for the destruction caused by the Nazis during World War II. (September 2)
Sanctions – Bulgaria – Russia: Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov announced that his country will increase the visa fee required from Russian tourists from 35 euros to 80 euros. Dimitrov stated that they did not find this decision correct, but that they had to act in line with the decision taken by the EU.
Politics – Elections
Russia: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), died in hospital at the age of 91. (30 August)
Cuba: Camilo, the eldest son of Che Guevara, the unforgettable leader of the Cuban revolution, died of a stroke during a trip to Venezuela. Born in the early 1960s, Camilo devoted his life to the Che Center to preserve his father’s legacy. (30 August)
Malesia: Rosmah Mansor, moglie dell’ex primo ministro Najib Rezak, è stata condannata a dieci anni di carcere per aver sollecitato e ricevuto tangenti in cambio di contratti governativi. (1 settembre)
Myanmar: Deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 3 years in prison for election fraud. (September 3)
Sri Lanka: Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country after protesters stormed his home and office, has returned to his country. (September 3)
Russia: The last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Mikhail Gorbachev, was buried in the capital Moscow, after the funeral ceremony held in the Columns Hall of the Trade Union Assembly. (September 3)
Czechia: In Prague, the Capital of Czechia, about 70,000 people took to the streets against the government’s indifference to inflation and the EU and NATO policies. (September 4)
